Wednesday Edition: Skin Cancer Epidemic

The American Cancer Society estimates that 62,000 people in the United States will be diagnosed with melanoma, the most serious type of skin cancer, this year. Each year, more than 10,700 Americans die from skin cancer. The worst news is that there will be worse news in the years ahead.  

The American Academy of Dermatology warns that there is an emerging epidemic of skin cancer that will hit young folks, on parts of the body not generally exposed to harmful sunburns — especially the torso.

South Africa’s Independent Online reported:

One in five Americans will develop skin cancer and a person’s risk of the disease doubles if he or she has had five or more sunburns, according to a report in the April issue of the Mayo Clinic Health Letter.

Basal and squamous cell carcinomas, the most common and treatable types of skin cancers, had long been considered a problem only for people over 50, according to the report.

But Mayo Clinic researchers found that the percentage of women under 40 with the more common type, basal cell, tripled between 1976 and 2003, while the rate of squamous cell cancers increased four-fold.

In the same study, the researchers found that just 60 percent of the cancers they identified occurred on skin frequently exposed to the sun, such as the head and neck, rather than the normal 90 percent.

Most of the remaining cancers were seen on the torso. The researchers suspect this may be due to more widespread use of tanning beds.   

A new study out this spring also says that young people have learned practically nothing from the skin cancers their parents have endured. One in four kids polled said it was “worth a sunburn to get a tan.”

The American Cancer Society has some resources:

What are the risk factors for skin cancer?

Risk factors for nonmelanoma and melanoma skin cancers include:

• unprotected and/or excessive exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation
• fair complexion
• occupational exposures to coal tar, pitch, creosote, arsenic compounds, or radium
• family history
• multiple or atypical moles
• severe sunburns as a child

What are the signs and symptoms of skin cancer?

Skin cancer can be found early, and both doctors and patients play important roles in finding skin cancer. If you have any of the following symptoms, tell your doctor.

• any change on the skin, especially in the size or color of a mole or other darkly pigmented growth or spot, or a new growth
• scaliness, oozing, bleeding, or change in the appearance of a bump or nodule
• the spread of pigmentation beyond its border such as dark coloring that spreads past the edge of a mole or mark
• a change in sensation, itchiness, tenderness, or pain

Can skin cancer be prevented?

The best ways to lower the risk of nonmelanoma skin cancer are to avoid intense sunlight for long periods of time and to practice sun safety. You can continue to exercise and enjoy the outdoors while practicing sun safety at the same time.

• Avoid the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
• Seek shade: Look for shade, especially in the middle of the day when the sun’s rays are strongest. Practice the shadow rule and teach it to children. If your shadow is shorter than you, the sun’s rays are at their strongest.
• Slip on a shirt: Cover up with protective clothing to guard as much skin as possible when you are out in the sun. Choose comfortable clothes made of tightly woven fabrics that you cannot see through when held up to a light.
• Slop on sunscreen: Use sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or higher. Apply a generous amount (about a palmful) and reapply after swimming, toweling dry, or perspiring. Use sunscreen even on hazy or overcast days.
• Slap on a hat: Cover your head with a wide-brimmed hat, shading your face, ears, and neck. If you choose a baseball cap, remember to protect your ears and neck with sunscreen.
• Wear sunglasses with 99 percent to 100 percent UV absorption to provide optimal protection for the eyes and the surrounding skin.
• Follow these practices to protect your skin even on cloudy or overcast days. UV rays travel through clouds.

Construction-Zone Crashes

The summer driving season/summer highway-construction season is just ahead of us. In 2004, more than 1,000 people die in crashes around construction zones. (See Page 110 in the PDF of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration‘s 2004 motor vehicle crash report.)

The largest number of construction-zone deaths happened on interstates. The NHTSA report does not say so, but I suspect that some of the reasons could include the fact that people travel faster on interstates and that there are more cars out there, when compared to back roads.

Last week, The Sacramento Bee covered a memorial for highway workers killed on the job. You could localize this story by just spending some time with flagmen or pothole crews. See/show how drivers fly by. Who was the last worker to die in your area? What would his/her family have to say about the effects of such a crash?

Traffic Data Perspective

Last week’s report on distracted drivers contained this buried data, which puts highway safety into perspective. Automobile.com points out:

Improved roads, better medical care and stronger DUI laws are cited as differentiators, although improvements in the construction of vehicles, including the addition of passive and active safety features, especially a modern-day vehicle’s ability to avoid an accident in the first place — thanks to improved suspension components — probably make up the majority of difference. Other benefits most modern vehicles enjoy include power disc brakes, four-wheel antilock brake systems, radial-ply tires, penetration-resistant windshields, padded dashboards, collapsible steering columns, structural reinforced passenger compartments supported by integrated crumple zones, three-point safety belts, multiple airbags and even sun visors are noted as making a difference.

A Penny Costs More than a Penny

The New York Times pointed out that it now costs the U.S. Mint more than a penny to mint each penny. The cost of the metals in each penny rose above 0.8 cents last week, the Times says. Add to that about six-tenths of a cent, which is the actual cost of making the coin, and there you have it — a penny that costs nearly a penny and a half to mint.

Pennies don’t contain much copper these days, and as I have said several times on Al’s Morning Meeting, copper prices have more than doubled in the last three years. Pennies now are mostly made of zinc. Interestingly, zinc prices have increased even more than copper prices.

It makes you wonder at what point the government would be better off melting down the pennies. Maybe it is time to start producing steel pennies, like the ones produced in World War II, when Uncle Sam needed copper for the war effort. 

Pennies are still in big demand. The Times reports that last year, the mint produced 7.7 billion of them. I suspect I have a billion or two in my truck seats.

What to Do With CDs You Don’t Want

ABC News produced a story on what might well be the world’s largest record store, www.lala.com. The site hosts nearly two million CDs offered by people like you who want to sell or trade music. Right now, you have to be invited to join by another member, but the site will be more open soon.

The site founders wrote this interesting message in the “About la la” section of the site:

I’ll be the first to advocate that artists should make a lot more from each CD. ‘la la’ is taking the unprecedented action of giving artists 20 percent of our revenues from used CDs, no used record store or online site does this today. I’ll also promise to work tirelessly (only sleep four hours a night anyway — this is being written at 3:31 a.m. so pardon my punctuation) to reduce overhead in marketing costs across the industry, so artists can make more from selling their music.

I ask you to do your part by doing the right thing: remove songs from your iPod or PC if you’ve agreed to send the CD to another member.

If you want to listen to that CD again, just add it to your Want List and help us support that artist you can’t get enough of. You’ll have access to plenty of good music to enjoy in the meantime. We’ll make sure of that!